The Dickinson press., 1887-09-24
TAB0R'S THREE MINES.
FROM FLOODING sToREKEEPER TO
SUCCESSFUL SPEcuLAToR.

SUCCESSFUL SPEcULAToR.
The Romanccs of Little ritt>bnrl, Chrys-
Olite and Matchlcss-Thc Luck Which
Lay in u "(;rub St:kc''-Not Broken in
Fortune.
AT lcng Ii came the realization of the car
Donate wealth hidden i'll these hills. Who're
Orc ll;ui lmcn established in lSiiu leadville
was laid out in lS1S Even i'll this period of
new excitement TaborS heal was not turned
from his routine of storekerping. His trade
boomel naturally with the growth of the
camp, which added to its population as many
as aot' day during the big rush. Lawyers,
gamblers everybody tlockrl to the hills and
laid out claims. and strained their backs ut
the pick and windaSs Tabor was not so
carried away. He stood behind the counter
and weighed out the bacon and the meal
''H'' was II steady going-you might say
ploding-S is the description
given hv the pioneers. THAT was all there
was to him. Nobody ever thought of him as
Il mining man
Occasionally the imlccunious prospector
came to Tabor with proposition for grub
stake" The >t"rrkceper usually fell in with
the suggestion. and weighed the supplies.
Tho miner shou,lerc,l the pack and went over
the hill And Tabor entered up SO many
pounds Of bacon and so many pounds of flour
t" profit aud loss. How many miners Tabor
has grub staErd' in his time I.ea.lvile does
not pretend to say Probably the number is
we'll along in the hundreds If anything
came of this grub stalking for nearly twenty
years no record has been kept of tho fact
ID, fN.l.z ..l.,... 4 r
good name during this plodding period of
\ his life. No i'll word is spoken of him as a
storckeepcr.
| One day Il miner named Risclic made the
usual credit arrangement with Tabor for
grub" walked up the hill as so many others
had done before him, and went to work. He
came down town of evenings, and got tailor
interested with him in the prospect The
tailor was George Hook, who, after listening
to Rische's spccuations about the claim,
chuckel his goose under the table, followed
til" miner tip the hill, and went to work at The
shaft. For some time Tabor would have re-
signed that grub stake" claim for fifty cents
on tho dollar, and George Hook secretly re-
GREETED the day lie left tho bench to become II
mining man.
But the time came when two of the part
n"rs sold out their thirds for 100000 apiece,
while Tabor, true to his character for hang
ing on, stayed i'll and saw that claim yield
$4,000 day, half of which he put i'll his pocket
as the interest OH his grub stake" principal
This is the romance Of Little Iittsburg
Tabor, the podding storekeeper, became an
other man entirely. He and jerome b.
Chafee held on I" Little Pittsburg until it
yielded $4,000 day. Then they stocked it,
Ono day when they had just received returns
from the latest shipment to the slnelter and
We're sitting in the back room of tho bank,
Tabor said to Chaffec: "We'll stock this mine
for s1o,oooooo"
"Oh, no." protested Chaffee, "that's too
much. Make it 100000 900, or something rea.
sonnhle like that"
Come to think of it, though" said Tabor,
paying no attention to the interruption, ~
believe we'll make it S2O0OO,0 O,0OO."
And they did. The 100000 shares at 800
par value were issued, and climbed until
they reached s35, representing n capital Of
s7,u0O,0m. And then Tabor showed that he
sides possessing n capacity for holding on, lie
knew when to let go. Telling people plainly
TINT while Little Pittshurg was great mine,
he didn't believe it wns u fair equivalent for
that valuation, he let so of his stock. There
were plenty of takers, for the reports made
if tho whole Fryer hill was of solid silver.
Little Pittsburg was n grand producer for
awhile, and has yielded S1.OOOO0O, Just 100
per cent. on the investment represented by
the stock at SD Il share. But the tlnto of the
last dividend is omnous--"M March, 1850"
In four months Tabor made out OF Little
Pit,shurg S1,30o,Ooo. But his luck didn't
stop there. There used to be Il character in
Icadvie known us Chicken Bill. His
mother knew him us William Lowell
Chicken Bill took up claim Oh Fryer hill
nnl worked il imlustrously for some weeks
But after the SHIFT got down TO such doptll
TINT it was quite tirrsonlc to haul the dirt up
in bucket, he became dSgusted. In the
language If I.eadville. "he hadn't u smell Of
ore" Bill left his shaft one night and walked
down thr hill. As he came to George Flyers
New Discovery mine his eyes fell on some
very good ore. which had Just b cn taken
out. ELL looked around. That was be-
fore the dnys of watrlmcn at the
dump, and when all I."adyillc was sup
posed t. br honest. Bill gathered up lot OF
ore wl,, Ii.. ..ro.,l lcarryromfortnbly, walked
bn"k to hi, shaft, and threw the chunks in.
Then he w.nt down town in very good
llun,ur. The next morning bright and early
hc was down his shaft pounding away among
the rocks About noon be- went down town
and told Tabor and others tina he had struck
it" AT last. Tabor, flushed with his Little
Pttsh,lrs experience, was then ont the lookout
for anything and everything, and le sent a
man np t. see what Chicken Bill Ind got
The nvcs;i gator came back and reported
several inchc; Of nice looking ore in sight"
Tabor asked hill what be wanted for his find
aud Bill sni,l he owed 800 for grub which
tt,of l,n
wanted $50 for spending money Tabor paid
$50 aud tool; possession. He sank that sailed
Shaft five fee, from where Bill had stopped and
struck ore that yielded over 81. 100000.
This is the romance Of the discovery OF
ChrySnlitc Chicken Bill couldn't stand it,
Prosperity by proxy was too much for him.
He told the whole story on himself Chicken
Bills claim and those of the Chrysolte Min
ing company consolidated with it have
yielded $i.:;:,0OOO, but no dividends have been
paid since December, 1881.
The Matchless was another illustration Of
Tabors wonderful luck. Tim Foley and his
partners, Wilgls and the others, worked this
claim until they had discovered some ore and
sold out to Tabor FOR $4,000. They went
around I..nd!iii.' shaking hands and recciv
ing congratulations on having put it up on
the old man this time But Tabor held the
property am, kept on with development
work When h" nal taken vut sl.0OO,NO,
en;imcnt began To change decdedl. as to the
wisdom 'f the investment. But the proluc-
tion kept right Oh up to sa.nonO Then
peopl" !',.;am to wonder why Tabor didn't
stock tho min" and unload. Siil Ii" held OIL.
| The Ma,cr>> last year passed the :3.0U, 600
point. and today it is still producing. Tabor
is tho sole owner. He has never parted with
a dollars Interest in the property. He enjoys
the distinction of being the only Lcadvi.le
man WHO has bought u big mine and dcvcl-
ope'i it, and held on TO it without forming q
company or taking i'll n partner Matchless
is the only prominent mine III the district the
| title tn which rests in single name.
The impression has gone out that Tabor is
| broken in fortune. He las lost heavily in his
numerous ventures, but there are few men
in L.a'ivilc .vho wouldn't trade even today
for what Tabor has got left. Huh one Of
them said. II wish 1 was us near broke az
Tabor is."-Globc- Democrat.